Vanilla Cupcakes with Sugar Cookie Heart Surprise & JORD Watch Giveaway!!

It’s the inside that counts!

Sweet heart surprise on the inside!

With Valentine’s coming up don’t forget to get your sweetheart a gift! Nothing could be better than a fun, unique watch… from JORD watches, of course! JORD is Swedish for Earth, Soil and Land. The wooden watches are modern, lightweight and sooo chic… plus they have numerous styles available for Men and Women.

So I must say…upon arrival, the JORD watch was love at first sight. The unique concept and appeal of the watch was what had attracted me to it in the first place. Everything about the experience of the watch has been perfect. For me, the unboxing of the packaging is part of the experience and creating that lasting impression. The watch comes packaged in a beautiful wooden box with a lid that is secure to the body of the box with small magnets. It’s truly a very nice and luxurious touch.

JORD even sized the watch for me in advance, so I did not have to worry about taking out extra links and waiting to wear my new watch! It came perfect and was ready to be worn and out for a stroll right away.

Living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I find that people tend to notice the small details very quickly. The Barista at the coffee shop down the street from me, commented “WOW! That’s awesome! Is that watch wooden?” I replied, “Yep, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome and I love it!” With it’s distinct look, people do notice and I don’t think I’ve received this many compliments lately…definitely a nice change for once.

I have the Frankie series Zebrawood and Champagne watch. The light yellow gold color and clean face is something I wanted to highlight the wooden aspect of the watch. So, now is your chance to enter to win your very own JORD watch as well! Just follow the instructions in this link and good luck! The contest closes on February 19 at 11:59PM! Every person that enters has the chance to win a $100 gift code to use on the JORD site! Only one person can win, BUT everyone that enters will receive a $25 gift code at the end of the contest. The code expire April 30, so you have some time to decide which one… or ones you want!

Make sure you enter! Because no matter what, at least you receive a $25 code to use towards a JORD watch! While you’ve entered the contest, don’t forget to shop on their site to pick up a watch for upcoming Valentine’s Day gift!!

So after you’ve entered the contest and bought a new watch for yourself rather than your sweetheart, then you definitely need to give them something special this year… so how about these vanilla funfetti cupcakes with a red sugar cookie heart in the middle?

Ingredients:

For Sugar Cookie Center:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Red gel food coloring

For Funfetti Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes):

1 cup + 2 tablespoon whole milk, at room temperature
4 large egg whites, at room temperature (120 grams)
1 whole large egg, at room temperature
3 cups cake flour, sifted (350 grams)
1 1/2 white sugar (300 grams)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder (19.5 grams)
3/4 teaspoon salt (5 grams)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (15 ml)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (2.5 ml)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Cisco vegetable shortening, softened (14 g)
12 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened (113 grams)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon red jimmies (plus if desired, more for sprinkling on top)

For Fluffy Frosting:

3 sticks + 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, shifted
3 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Red gel food coloring

Directions:

For Sugar Cookie Center:

In medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and flour mixture set aside.
In bowl to standing mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy at medium-high speed.
Add in egg and mix until fully incorporated and then add vanilla extract.
On low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture until dough just comes together.
Use red food coloring and add about 1 teaspoon to batter and mix. Continue to add more food coloring until desired red color.
Place cookie dough into a lined pan. I used an 8 x 8 metal pan. I molded the cookie dough so it was about 1 inch thick in height and spread it across the pan as much as I could (you won’t fill the entire pan). Place the dough into the freezer and let it freeze a little bit.
The easier route is to buy a small heart cookie cutter no more than 1 inch high. Instead, I used a piece of paper and folded it in half and cut out half a heart (approximately 1 inch in height and 1 inch in width). Open the paper heart and trim as needed. I have to say that this step took me a little bit before I had a heart I was happy with. Use the heart to trace into the cookie dough. This is best done once the cookie dough has had a chance to freeze otherwise the cookie dough will be too soft to work with.
Take each heart and place them on a jelly roll pan. Once done, I place the cookie dough into the freezer. The cookie dough can be kept in the freezer overnight if you prefer to make the cupcakes the next day.
For the rest of the cookies, bake the rest at 350F degrees for 8-10 minutes.

For Funfetti Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees and line muffin tin with baking liners.
In medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients – egg whites, whole egg, 1/4 cup milk, vanilla extract and almond extract (note: not mixing in all of the milk yet and need to set some milk aside for steps later on). Set mixture aside.
In bowl to standing mixer, shift cake flour into the bowl and using paddle attachment on low speed, add in sugar and mix thoroughly (about 30 seconds).
Add butter and shortening to flour and sugar mixture and continue to mix on low speed for another 30 seconds. Scrape the sides down.
Add remaining milk (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoon) to mixture and mix on low speed until the batter is coming together. Then increase the speed to medium and continue to mix for another 90 seconds. Scrape the sides of the batter down.
Add the milk/egg mixture in three batches and after each addition, beat the mixture on medium speed for 20 seconds.
Add red jimmies and fold into the batter.
Using tablespoon to scoop in one tablespoon of batter into each of the liners. Place one frozen cookie dough into each muffin tin and use another 1-2 tablespoons of batter to cover the cookie dough.
Bake for 16-18 minutes. Check on the cupcakes at 16 minutes and if the top is still not fully cooked, check back in another minute.
Once cupcakes are removed from the oven, allow it to cool for at least 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to allow them to cool down completely.

For Fluffy Frosting:

Shift confectioner’s sugar into the mixing bowl to standing mixer.
Using paddle attachment, whip together butter and confectioner’s sugar on medium speed (Kitchen Aid setting 4) for 8 minutes. The butter and sugar will become very pale and creamy.
On slow speed, add vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream. Once incorporated into mixture, increase mixer speed to medium (Kitchen Aid setting 4) for 6 minutes.
Frosting will become creamier, lighter and fluffy in texture.
Use spatula to press it against the side of the mixer to smooth out air bubbles.
Use the red food coloring and add two drops to the buttercream and mix well for the color to be evenly distributed. Take out about 1/2 cup of light pink frosting into piping bag with open star tip.
Add 2-5 more drops of red food coloring and mix well. Take about half of the buttercream and place into piping bag with closed star tip.
For the remaining butter cream, add another 2-5 drops of red food coloring or to desired pink color. Place into piping bag with open star tip.
Pipe the darkest pink frosting on the bottom first swirling from inside round to the outer edges.